“Your words tell me that you had no intention of marrying me. In that case, you should be happy that I have moved on and allowed you to continue your life as you see fit.”
Without warning, she picked up a vase and threw it in his direction. He dodged it smoothly, watching it shatter against the wall.
“I daresay that was an expensive item. I hope that you will be able to replace it. Our hosts are not forgiving people.”
She stared at him, her chest heaving. “Do you think that I care? I am Diana Lambert, daughter of the Viscount of Somersby! I do not care if I should destroy this entire room.”
He stepped back. “Then you shall not do it with me in it. If you will excuse me.”
“If you believe that you can walk away from me, then best you think again, Anthony. Ask for my forgiveness and remain with me or I shall accuse you of improper behaviour.”
Anthony could see that she was serious. He did not put it past her to rip her clothing and make herself out to be a ravished woman. He would need to marry her then, propriety would demand it of him. What was he to do? The door behind sprung open, and Felton appeared.
“I would not do that if I were you, Diana. I have been at the door listening to all that you have said. One false move and I shall declare to the world what sort of a woman you are. You will be hated by many. Is that what you want?”
Anthony could see that Diana was stunned. Her last resort had been foiled by his friend.
“You!” she spat. “You would dare to come against me?”
“Completely, and more,” said Felton. “Do not test me, Diana. I have been waiting for this moment, and now that it has finally come, I shall not allow you to ruin my friend's life any longer. Remove yourself from this situation with dignity, or I shall ensure that the whole of London knows the type of woman you are.”
Anthony knew that Felton was enjoying this although his expression did not indicate so. Thank goodness that he was at the door, or Anthony would have been a married man before long. Diana must have finally realised that she was cornered. There was nothing more that she could do. She pulled herself to her full height, held her head up high, and walked past them without another glance. Anthony breathed a sigh of relief as soon as she was no longer in sight.
“It is over?”
Felton came to grasp his shoulder, smiling at him. “Indeed it is, old friend. Time to celebrate.”
“Let me sit down first. That woman is a handful.”
Felton laughed as Anthony dropped into an armchair, utterly exhausted from the heated exchange.
“I heard the entire conversation. Well, snippets. I received some odd looks from the servants as I had my glass to my ear pressed against the door. I must have been a sight.”
“I likely look a sight. I do not think that I could yet return to the party if she is there.”
“Are you frightened?”
“Did you not just see her?”
Felton laughed. “I see your point. Let me see if she was wise enough to leave and return home.”
His friend left, giving him time to recollect his thoughts. What a day! It seemed as though much had happened and the night was not yet spent. If he could, he would go to Elizabeth's residence at this moment just to see her beautiful face. But tomorrow was another day. Anthony intended on arriving at the Shepherd residence first thing in the morning, carry his mother's ring with him, and ask her to become his wife. Of course, he was still going to need the approval of her father, but he needed to show her his love.
Felton returned just as he ran through the words that he would speak to her upon seeing her. “It is all clear. It appears that she did not say much but excused herself and left. Our friends are quite interested to know what transpired between you both.”
“Which friends? I hope that you do not mean the mutual ones?”
“No. There have been a number of us hoping for your separation from Diana. I am the only one who has been vocal about it.”
“And her friends?”
“Do not concern yourself about them. They are in the parlour. Come, our companions are waiting for us in the drawing room. It is time to celebrate the end of the Dianian era and usher in the Elizabethan.”
Felton held out his hand to him and hoisted him up, clapping him on the back as he did so. Anthony, in turn, clasped his shoulder.
“Thank you,” he said.
“There is no need to thank me, Anthony. You would have done it for me as well.”
Smiling, they returned to the drawing room where several pairs of eyes turned to look at them.
“So,” a friend said. “Is there a celebration to be had? We all witnessed the Ice Queen leave the party in a huff.”
“Since when have you referred to Diana as the Ice Queen?” Anthony asked.
“Oh, for years now,” Felton answered. “I wanted to call her the Siren of Death, but our friends found it too morbid.”
Anthony laughed. “What else have you all been saying behind my back?”
“Many things,” another friend answered. “We've wanted to say it to your face for years, but we were wary of your fists. Felton was the only one to brave the Great Anthony.”
“Great Anthony?”
“Do not let it go to your head,” Felton cautioned. “Great Imbecile would have been more apt, but they wanted to be nice about it.”
The men laughed, and Anthony found himself joining in even though their words were not entirely complimentary.
They are all right, I have been an imbecile. I was not able to see the truth, to see who Diana indeed was. I shall forever be in debt to Felton for his role in gaining my life back.
“So, tell us. What has become of Diana?”
“I have ended our courtship.”
A round of applause and a few shouts filled the room. Felton raised his hand, immediately bringing the noise to an end.
“Anthony,” he said. “Tell them what you plan on doing. For years we have watched you throw your life away on a woman who never cared for you. It is only right that we all get to hear what the Great Anthony will do with his life.”
“Why, I plan on marrying the love of my life.”
“The Lovely Elizabeth?” a friend asked.
“You had a name for her as well?” Anthony asked.
Felton laughed. “We have a name for everyone. It keeps things interesting.”
“Answer the question!” another friend insisted.
“Yes, I shall marry the Lovely Elizabeth, if she will have me.”
“Hear! Hear!” they all shouted.
Felton raised his glass of cognac. “To our friend Anthony. May he live long with his woman beside him.”
“Hear! Hear!” they all chorused again.
Anthony looked at Felton, seeing the pride and affection his friend had for him. It would have never been possible without him. In response, he raised his own glass to him, smiling as a look of understanding passed between them.
“Thank you,” he mouthed.
Felton gave an exaggerated bow. “At you service.”
Anthony did not have the words to describe how much he appreciated all that his friend had done for him and continued to do, but he felt that Felton probably knew it all already. That is what true friendship was. He only hoped that he could return the favour. His friend deserved a good woman to love, and if it was in his power to do so, he would help him find her. Henrietta would not have wanted him to pine away for her for the rest of his life. A good woman would put the spark back into his eyes. She would not replace Henrietta, but she would fill a void in his life.
As the night wore on, Anthony could only think of Elizabeth. It was just a matter of hours before he would be with her once again, and he could hardly wait.
Chapter 15
Elizabeth looked at the paper before her, not knowing what to say. Her parents needed to know what had happened thus far during their stay, but she found herself unable to write a word. It was too soon, but also long overdue.
&
nbsp; What would her parents think once they found out what she had done? She could not keep the plan from them now that it had failed to secure the future she had hoped for her sister. As for her own future, it was not as clear as she had initially thought.
She merely needed time to herself. Just a few days to come to terms with everything and then she would be all right. At least, she hoped so. Never had she expected the plan to take such an unexpected and emotional turn. When had it begun to go so wrong?
From the beginning. She should have never agreed to such an idea A false courtship indeed. Who had ever heard of such?
But the rewards of the plan had pulled her in, making her a slave to its promises. Independence for her and marriage for her sister. But it was not to be. Perhaps Father would understand and cease this mission for her to be married. Would he truly force her into a marriage against her will?”
If she were to run away, where would she go? There was no guarantee that Aunt Deborah and Uncle Noah would help her, although they were rather unconventional people. A disguise may help, but to what end? She could not be on the run for the rest of her life. She loved her family far too much for that. There had to be another way of tackling this situation. Although her heart was hurting, she had to be practical about the situation she was in.
There was no use in weeping over spilt milk. What was done was done, there was no turning back the hands of time. Never mind the fact that she had spent most of the night crying and wishing that she could turn back the hands of time.
She should have kept away from that balcony as though the plague were upon them. But had she done that, she would have never met the man who had fulfilled all aspects of her ideal husband. She would have never known that such a man existed.
She also would have never known the pain that she was going through. Was there a word for her agony? How did one explain heartbreak? How did you take it away?
Elizabeth felt foolish for her feelings, and she only blamed herself. Had she not been the one to fall in love with a man who loved another? What sort of a woman would do that? Her sort, apparently. She walked into that false courtship knowing that Anthony loved Diana, that he wanted her back. That was the reason for the scheme. How could she have allowed herself to have affection for him beyond that of a friend?
Because she had been happy. Happier than she would have ever thought. Here was a man who understood her, enjoyed what she loved, and never grew tired of her chatter. Even their silences had been wonderful, as they were both comfortable enough with each other to not need every moment of the day to be filled with words. She sighed, putting her stationery away. There was to be no letter-writing that day for her head was much too filled with thoughts of Anthony.
She could not even be angry with him. He was only himself. It was not as though he had tried to make her fall in love with him, it had simply happened.
However... Had there not been moments between them? Flashes of memory filled her mind – their prolonged eye contact, their duet at the pianoforte, the heat at the touch of their hands, and what of that moment at the fountain? Had he been trying to tell her something?
Oh, Elizabeth did not know. What was the use of thinking this way? What good would it do?
She blew out a puff of air as she laid her head on her folded arms, using the writing desk as support. She was exhausted from the emotional turmoil, her lack of sleep, and memories that had no place in her life ahead of her.
She dared not look in the mirror lest she find a haggard woman staring back at her again. Elizabeth had done precisely that earlier out of habit, shocking even herself. She had quickly looked away, grimacing at the woman in the mirror.
Her life seemed to have been put on hold, but the funny thing was that life continued as usual about her. The sun still rose, the birds sang their songs, people called out to each other on the streets beyond her window, and breakfast was being prepared downstairs.
“The world has not stopped functioning, even though my life seems to have paused. Is this how it is meant to be?”
Elizabeth could not decide which was worse. Falling in love with a taken man or being rejected by that same man. It did not make it any better that she had known the rejection was coming.
She had never known that she would be foolish enough to love a man she stood no chance with beyond friendship. Although she sincerely doubted she had even that – Diana would never allow it. Where would her self-respect be if she were to pursue a friendship with him? Would it not seem strange to an outsider?
They never did speak of becoming friends after the plan. They had only spoken of what they would do once they parted ways. Anthony had likely proposed to Diana once more, and if she were wise enough, she would have accepted. However, Elizabeth had no intention of staying in London past a few days to hear of their happy reunion. Until her departure, she intended on staying in the townhouse.
Neither did she wish to hear of their happy life, not when her emotions were still quite raw. It was silly of her, but she could not control how she felt.”
Elizabeth sighed again, sitting up straighter in her chair. She rubbed her nose, wincing as the raw flesh stung. She had forgotten about the state of her nose, the tenderness of it due to her night-time sobbing.
She expected to have a red nose as well. Everyone would know what she had been doing all night, but it would be acceptable as she had technically been rejected by her suitor. At least there was that. No one would question her, or rather she hoped that they would not.
She had not spoken to her aunt and uncle about the rejection yet, as she had avoided them for much of the night. But she imagined that Cecilia had informed them. Elizabeth hoped that her sister had not told them the truth about the situation, as she was not prepared to deal with the repercussions of it quite yet. There was only so much that she could handle, and at that moment guilt and heartbreak were the feelings that were consuming her. Shame would have to come later. Elizabeth gave a little jump in her chair when her door was suddenly flung open by her sister.
“Cecilia! What do you mean by this?”
Her sister stopped by the doorway, gave her a once-over, and grimaced. “You look a sight, Eliza.”
“Thank you, you are too kind.”
“It is true. Have you been crying the whole night?”
Elizabeth shrugged, not bothering to say anything. The answer was clear enough on her face. She was not sure what to make of her sister's jovial mood considering that she was so angry only the day before. But she did seem changed when she returned from her outing last night.
“Ceci, where did you go yesterday? I was fretful with thoughts that something had happened to you.”
Her sister smiled. “All in good time, dear sister. However, at this moment I wish for you to put more effort into your appearance. Do you have to wear that dress? I am sure that you have better looking day dresses.”
But Elizabeth was not remotely bothered by her appearance. What was bothering her was that her sister was not still angry. Cecilia was one to hold grudges, and remain upset for days on end. Considering that her wedding had been put on hold indefinitely, she was surprisingly cheerful. Elizabeth did not trust it, not one bit.
"Why are you in high spirits, Ceci? I expected you to still be angry with me for all I have done. I shall not hold it against you as I did do something entirely foolish."
“I shall not deny that I was upset last evening, but neither do I believe it useful or wise to dwell on the past. What is done is done.”
Lords to Be Enamored With: A Historical Regency Romance Collection Page 53
